TOP FC 9, the fifth event of the year for the promotion, went down on October 24th, 2015 at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in South Korea. Kim Jae-Young was able to make quick work of Matt Horwich to capture the Middleweight Title, Bruno Carvalho put on an exhibition, and Roque Martinez showed an all-around game to finish his opponent.

Audience members that were in attendance and viewers at home were able to witness some warriors that were not going to leave the fight in the hands of the judges. As a matter of fact, only two of the eight fights went to the scorecards.

In the main event, Kim Jae-Young was finally able to get his hands on that elusive strap that had slipped away from him in the past. Horwich started off trying to stand and trade with Kim and he paid tremendously for it. While pushing forward, the American had his chin in the air and it was met with a counter left hook that collapsed him. He took about half a dozen unnecessary hammerfists until the ref jumped in to call it off.

The “Fighter in the Wind” now has the belt and it will be interesting to see who will be his next challenger since there are not many middleweights in Korea. He is the number one ranked 185er in Korea and I can bet he will not turn down any fight that comes his way.

The co-main event was a much more closely contested battle between extremely skilled fighters. Kim Eun-Soo began the fight light on his feet using his speed to land combinations and even completing a double leg takedown but got immediately back up for obvious reasons. Bruno Carvalho, on the other hand, stayed composed and waited for his moment to land a leaping left that slightly dropped Kim and had him grabbing on for a takedown. The Brazilian locked in an arm in guillotine but Kim was able to pop his head out and the round ended shortly thereafter.

In the second round, Kim got a little bit wilder in his exchanges and that eventually doomed him. As the Korean was slipping away, Carvalho connected with a short right uppercut that dropped Kim against the fence. While Kim was trying for a takedown, Carvalho put on a darce choke and worked it for a moment and then transitioned to the mount. From there, he threw down elbows and punches causing some damage leading to Kim exposing his back. Once Carvalho was in back mount, he rolled his opponent over and sank in the rear-naked choke for the tap. After it was all said and done, the crowd was stunned and silent because their hometown boy just got schooled.

The Brazilian shark gets back to his winning ways and puts an end to his four fight losing streak.

Another foreign fighter that impressed the mostly Korean audience was Roque Martinez. The Guam native was making his second trip to Korea for TOP FC and he showed why they need to keep bringing him back.

The fight against Jung Da-Un was a lesson in how to dominate from start to finish. Even though Martinez had a massive reach disadvantage, he used cage control and boxing to set up timely takedowns. On the second one, Martinez landed in the half guard and commenced to punish with short shots. Jung had his right arm trapped over his head and although his coach was telling him to be careful of the keylock, Martinez just patiently waited and at the right moment latched it on and yanked for the victory.

The Spike 22 representative is 2-0 for the promotion and probably will return very soon.

This evening was also a night full of Korean Top Team fighters getting their hands raised.

Starting off the night for them was Kim Han-Seul. He was able to survive a flash knockdown due to a laser left hand to coming back and catching Kim Jae-Woong with a cannonball counter right. Kim Jae-Woong immediately protested the stoppage but it looked like he was out on his feet. Kim Han-Seul moves to 5-3 and gets back into the winning column after a disappointing knockout loss at PXC 47.

Then, it was “Hellboy” Jang Won-Jun’s turn. The undefeated 28 year-old finished his late replacement opponent, Jeon Jung-Yoon, by landing a spinning back kick and soon after connected with a solid left hook that crumbled Jeon on the fence.

The last KTT member to showcase his skills was the standup sniper Lee Min-Gu. Jo Sung-Won was coming into this contest as the favorite but Lee had other things in mind. From the start Jo was walking down Lee and just getting lit up like a christmas tree with punches and kicks. During one of the combinations by Lee, Jo suffered a large cut over his right eye from a left hook that was bleeding everywhere. The doctor’s came in and examined the injury for some time and decided to stop the fight. Lee is now 4-2 and in prime position to call for a contender in the featherweight division in his next match.

Listed below are the results of the main card.

TOP FC: Battle of Incheon
October 24th, 2015
Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium
Incheon, South Korea